48 States - Leg 3

Trek

Hey Jake,

God speed. I really enjoy your pics and travels keep them coming. Perfect time of year too if you ask me. How long do you think you'll be gone this time?

chevito

googluck and keep the pics comming

RetiredJake

Northern Loop - Wednesday, Sep 9 (Thus AM post due to no WiFi last night)

The Xenia, OH area was blanketed in fog this morning. I relaxed and leisurely packed the bike and had breakfast at the motel. Finally got on the road about 0930. This was after I had been on the road for about 30 minutes.

The countryside was pretty flat for about an hour, then I could see some hills. I got into them about 30 minutes later.

Pretty soon, I was on OH-56 and going through the Hocking Hills. This is a ride you should do if in the area. It is a really nice winding, sometimes twisty, road that goes up and down a lot, and heavily wooded. Very nice after the first hour of flatland this morning. As I was leaving the Hocking Hills area, I spied the results of a farmer with way too much time on his hands.

In western WV, I paralleled US-50 for a ways, just nice country roads with enough curves to remove any boredom. The further east I got, the better the roads were.

Went through Pennsboro, WV. Stopped to look at the local speedway. Poor track hasn’t seen any use for a while.

After going through Clarksburg, US-50 returns to a two lane road that winds through the hills of WV. This turned out to be the best road of the day, including the short trip across MD. You have to ride this if you are in the area. I took a side trip to capture a picture of the New Milton, WV Post Office. On the return leg to US-50, I ran across this old church. Not sure why the wreathes were on the doors.

US-50 clips the extreme north-west corner of Maryland, then quickly returns to WV. I will cross back over MD again when I head north to PA. Added a couple more ABC shots.

For the forum members that also belong to HOG, there was a recent article about a gent who rode to 50 states in 50 days. When he went through this area, he stayed at the Cottage Inn in Mt. Storm, WV. I did not realize that until the motel manager showed me the article in HOG magazine. Nice little place, nice people. If in the area, patronize them.

__________________
Roaming the country, Tasting the wine,
Having fun, Life is good

RetiredJake

Trek, Looking at 12 to 14 days this trip. Need to be home for a big BBQ the wife committed me to. Gotta love 'em

__________________
Roaming the country, Tasting the wine,
Having fun, Life is good

Freddy2081

Absolutely stunning...

RetiredJake

Northern Loop - Thursday, Sep 10

Ah, history repeats itself. It was raining this morning, lightly, but what else would I find on the road?

Packed the bike, put on the rain suit, and headed east on US-50. The road continued as a great ride. Unfortunately, you climb up and over a mountain almost immediately after leaving Mt. Storm, WV. Normally this would be a good thing, but this morning that climb was also into heavy fog. I poked along about 30 mph, hoping I would be heading back down quickly, while keeping an eye out for traffic. I obviously made it okay, but not something I want to do again anytime soon. Once I cleared the mountain top, I was out of the fog for the rest of the day.

An additional complication was my GPS. The power went out on it yesterday, and the battery was getting very low. As I headed east, I was going to go through Winchester, VA, which has a Harley dealer.

The technician found the cradle had failed internally, and would not pass power through to the unit. The warranty paid for a new cradle, I had to pay for 1 hour of labor. I can live with that.

I ran I-81 north after leaving the dealer, back into WV, across MD, and into PA. The sky threatened to rain all day, this is a typical view when it wasn’t raining.

Grabbed the PA state border sign and then got onto US-30 to head for York. I got to York about 1700, so found a room for the night, a real fleabag this time. Plan on hitting the York Assembly Plant in the morning.

I’ll try to do better on the pictures tomorrow. Today was just a bummer.

__________________
Roaming the country, Tasting the wine,
Having fun, Life is good

RetiredJake

Northern Loop - Friday, Sep 11

I should have been happy with yesterday. I woke up this morning to fairly heavy rain, and not much hope that I would be able to ride out from under it. I got to the York Vehicle Operations too early for a tour. What with the rain, the time lost yesterday, and a deadline on the far end of the ride, I decided to postpone the tour until the next time I come through. Did get a picture for my ABC’s though.

My thoughts about not riding out from under the rain were correct. It never stopped raining all day. It was light at times, but never quit. At times it got so heavy I had to pull over and sit for a few minutes. Everything was wet, and I did not want to soak my camera any more than necessary. I used it to collect my ABC’s, but not anything else. Sooooooo, today’s pictures are pitiful. Watching the weather channel tonight, it looks like tomorrow will be more of the same, so pictures may be limited again for another day or two. I currently have all of my gear spread around the hotel room drying. My socks were squishing when I got off the bike.

I dropped down into Delaware to capture the state sign.

The next state was New Jersey. No sign on the road as I entered the state. I finally found a Post Office in Edison that I could use to document the state.

I crossed into Mercer County in NJ, but there was no sign at the county line. So I guess I’ll be looking for another ‘M’ county down the line.

Crossed into CT late this evening. There was a “Welcome to CT” sign, but not in a safe location that I could get a picture of it and the bike together. Should be able to get it on the other end when I hit RI. I made it as far as Milford, CT this evening, about 100 miles behind schedule. Lot of fun running I-95 in the dark, raining, heavy traffic, and everybody in a rush to get home for the weekend. Another lesson to put in my pocket.

When I setup my mapping program, I told it I did not want to use interstates or major highways. That option should be tempered with a little common sense. I normally love to ride the small back roads. In this case, I spent a lot of time riding through cities, a heck of a lot of road construction, and just generally slow riding. I would have been a lot better off taking a 100 mile detour and going up and over the NYC area. Boy, am I learning a lot of lessons on this trip. It has been so long since I was in this part of the country that I had forgotten just how congested it is.

Maybe tomorrow will work out better. Til then ...

__________________
Roaming the country, Tasting the wine,
Having fun, Life is good

deucedog

Hey Jake,

When you took the picture of the Nixon Station post office, Edison NJ.( which is in Middlesex County), you were 15 minutes from my house. Shoulda called buddy, you could have had a free meal and lodging (for you and your bike) for the night.

Also, if you didn't realize it, the Harley dealer was a 1/2 mile from the post office.

It sounds like you're having a good trip, even with the rain. I'm a little envious, to tell the truth.


Safe riding.

RetiredJake

Northern Loop - Saturday, Sep 12

It was overcast but not raining this morning, a pleasant change.

Slept late, ate breakfast at the hotel, and repacked all the wet items that had dried out overnight. Got on the road about 0900. Ran up I-95 through CT. This picture is from the Gold Star Bridge of the Electric Boat works in Groton.

As I approached Stonington, I grabbed this overall view of Mystic Seaport from a pullout.

AS I entered RI, the weather was deteriorating.

In MA, I stopped in Boston at the Charlestown Navy Yard and took the tour of the USS Constitution, AKA, Old Ironsides. What an impressive hunk of wood. To think that this ship is over 200 years old, still commissioned in the US Navy, and available to the public. She is currently undergoing renovation once again, so there was a temporary cover over the spar deck, and some of the areas below decks were off limits. Still, a lot to see and take in. I retired from the Navy over 25 years ago, and it has taken until now for me to see this.

One of the items being replaced is the main decking. This is about 4 inches thick. They replace the decking on average every 20 to 30 years. This is a shot of some of the old decking waiting replacement.

One of the items to warm a sailors soul is the grog barrel. The sailor was our guide through this part of the ship. Yes, he is an active duty sailor, a tour I would have killed for.

One of the 24 pounder guns, she carries 44 of them.

The ship carried a crew of 450 to 500 sailors and marines in wartime. They slept on the berth deck in hammocks like these.

Some of the framing that stiffened this ship’s hull.

The Commanding Officers of the USS Constitution since she was commissioned in 1797.

She was nicknamed ‘Old Ironsides’ due to the live oak that was sandwiched in her hull. There was the normal horizontal planking for the outer hull, then vertical planking of live oak, and then another inner layer of horizontal planking to complete the 3 layer hull structure. In her first combat, the enemy cannon balls bounced off the hull, earning the nickname of 'Old Ironsides'.

The ship’s bell, which the crew rings religiously as aboard any commissioned ship in the Navy.

As I left Boston, the weather was deteriorating, and getting sloppy.

I arrived in Kittery, MA around 1730. I had not been here in over 30 years. The last time being when the USS John C Calhoun was in the shipyard for overhaul. A lot has changed around here in 30 years.

The weather service says that this storm is moving out. I may have decent weather in another day or two. Tomorrow I head north a ways into ME, then back into NH to hit Mount Washington before venturing into VT and back into NY via Lake Champlaign.

__________________
Roaming the country, Tasting the wine,
Having fun, Life is good

pru7536

Jake, thanks for keeping us updated on your progress. As you can see, there are plenty of us following your adventure. Looks like the weather has been less that ideal since you left home. Hopefully you will hit clear skies and sun before too much longer. Fair winds and following seas!

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Semper Fi!

Mad Dog